Adjustable headlight socket



g 1930. v .s. F. ARBUCKLE 1,774,124

ADJUSTABLE HEADLIGHT SOCKET Filed Dec. 6, 192s INVENTOR leave/r4 V Another object Patented 26,1930 V U I ED STATES PATENT ournos SAMUEL F. ABBUCKLE, or HIGHLAND ran-K, MICHIGAN, AssIGnor. T MONOGRAM ENs coaroaa'rionior NEW YoaK, 1v. Y., A coaroaarion QEDELAWARE Y ADJUSTABLE HEADLIGHT socKE-r Application filed December 6, 1926. Serial No. 152,834. 1

' This invention relates to automobile headlights, and more particularly, tomeans for adjusting the lamp'bulb with respect to the reflector. It is well known in the art that v the filaments of an electric lamp bulb for a headlight must be properly placed with re-.

spect to the reflector in order to obtain the desired lighting effect. Particular difficulty has been found in obtaining electric light bulbs whose filaments are soaccurately placed within the bulb, that they will fall in the desired position with respect to the reflector when abulb is inserted in a fixed socket. This is particularly true of lamp bulbs hav- 16 ing two filaments of different light intensities, which must'be accurately located with respect to the reflector or great confusion of light rays will result. The object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a. socket 2O movable with respect to the reflector and a simple and accurate means'to be attached to the socket for adjusting the socket and bulb axially of the reflector, and also in a vertical plane.

of the invention is to provide an adjusting mechanismfor a two filament bulb which may be used in a bulletshaped headlamp.

Other objects and objects pertaining to economies of manufacture will be apparent as the description proceeds. I Broadly, the invention provides a socket slidably and pivotally mounted atthe base of the reflector and having an adjusting strip attached thereto, and longitudinally movable by a screw which engages a threaded portion of the adjusting strip and whose head is accessible from the rear-of the headlight. A second strip co-operates with the first strip to permit the first strip to slide longitudinally, but to prevent it fromflexure.

This' second strip is, anchored on'the casing, and means are provided operablefrom outsideof the casing to move this supporting strip to causeflexure of the longitudinal ad- 7 justing strip, and a corresponding tilting of the socket and light bulb about its fulcrum at the base of the reflector.

Oneembodiment of the invention is illus-- trated' in the accompanying drawings, in

which Y Fig. v

portion of 'a headlight showing the reflector and the adjusting means connected to the socket Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken on theline 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig; 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3 30f Fig. 1;

Figs. 4; 5 and 6-arethree modifications of the vertical adj usting means shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. lamp to which this invention isparticularly adapted. I Like 7 reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

1 is a sectional side elevation of a is an elevation of a bullet-shaped In Fig. 1a lamp casing 10-is shown sup- '7 porting a reflector 11 inthe baseof which-a lamp socket 12 is movably mounted in a collar 13.- The collar 13 has an opening 14 at the'top thereof, which is adapted to receive a lug 15 rigidly attached to the socket l2;

The collar 13 is narrow enongh to permit pivotal movement of the socket therein, and thelug 15 within the opening 14; of. the p01- lar prevents the socket from turning and helps tosteady the socket .in the collar." The bulb 16 may be mounted in the socket with the usual bayonet joint 17. The filaments 18 and 19 as illustrated in Fig.1, are posi' tionedv one above and one below the axis of;

the reflector, and by tilting the socket 12, it

will be seen that these filaments may be ad-' justed with respect to the axis of the re- ,flector; also the socket, when moved axially will cause the filaments to move on the axis of the reflector toward or away from the Nuts 22 are atc the casing 10. When the screw 23 is rotated, by means of an ordinary screw driver inserted in the slot in the head 24, the nuts 22 move along the screw and carry the strip 20 and the socket 112 backward or forward depending on which Way the screw is rotated.

The means for causing the vertical adjustment of the socket comprises a strip 26 bent substantially in theshapecof a V. One leg 27 of the V extends parallel a'ndadjacent to the adjusting strip 20 and terminates in a foot 28 which is adapted to contact with the casing 10, and through a hole in which the screw 23 passes. The foot 28 is held against the casing 10 by the spring '25, the other leg 29 of the strip 26 terminates in a foot 30 which is bent at right angles thereto and is adapted to lie parallel with the casing 10. The V shaped strip has a straight portion 31 adjacent the vertex thereof, and this straiqght'portion has a slot 32 in which the strip 20 is adapted to slide. When the leg 29 of the strip 26 is moved longitudinally, the portion 31 is raised or lowered and the strip 20 is flexed causing the socket to tilt about the collar 13. Longitudinal movement of the leg 29 is accomplished by a crown cam 33 which is positioned 7 between the casing 10 and the foot 30; a pin 34 extends through the casing and crown cam, and also through a hole in the foot 30. The

I crown cam 33 is fixed to the pin 34 and may be rotated by a screw driver inserted in the slot 35 in the, head of the pin 34. A locking arm 36 is also positioned so that the pin 34 3 passes through a hole therein and a cotter pin 37 isinserted inthe end of the pin 34 to prevent the arm 36 from slippingfloff' from the pin. A spring'38 is positioned between the foot '30 and the locking arm 36 and tends to keep the foot 30 pressed against the crown cam and the head of the pin 34 in contact with the casing 10.- 'A screw 38 passes through a hole in the casing 10 and is threaded into the locking arm 36, and a portion 39 of the locking arm is bent clownwardly in proximity to the crown cam 33, and is adapted to grip the crown cam and hold the same against rotation when the screw 38 is tightened. hen thescrew 34 is rotated, the crown cam 33 rotates and pushes the foot 30 forwardly, thereby causing the vertical adjustment as above described.

In Figures 4, 5 and 6, modifications of the vertical adjustment means are illustrated,

In Figure 4 the pin 34 has a disc 33 mounted thereon at an angle. The leg 29 has its end bent in a U-shaped portion 3Q through holes in the legs of which the pin 34 is adapted to pass and whose legs straddle the disc 33*. The bending of the portion 30 is such that this portion contacts with the disc 33 at one portion only in the circumference thereof, and therefore when the disc 33 is rotated, the leg 29 is moved longitudinally.

In Figure 5, the leg 29 terminates in a foot 30 which has a nut 33 attached thereto; a screw 34 is threaded into the nut 33 passing through a hole in the casing; a spring 38* urges the foot 3O away from the casing; a guide member 36 is attached to the casing and is adapted to limit the inward motion of the foot 30 Figure 6 is somewhat similarto Figure 5. In this case however, the screw 34 is held in the casing by'the cotter pin 38, and the 'foot 30 of the leg 29 is prevented from coming off of the screw by having the end of the screw split and expanded as at 36.

In the operation of the preferred form of the device illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3, axial adjustment of the bulb may be made by rotating the screw 24, and vertical ustment may be made by rotating the screw 34. While the adjustment in one direction might possibly throw out the adjustment in the other direction, several alternate adjustments of the screws will place the filaments in the exact position desired.

' It will be noted that in 1 the springs 25 and 38 provide enough friction between the moving parts to prevent accidental displacement after the parts have been adjusted- However, to make it doubly sure' that the vertical adjusting means may not become accidently displaced, the same may llc locked tightly by means of the screw 38 and the locking arm 36.

While I have describedand illustrate-d certain embodiments ofthe invention,manymodifications may be made in the construction without departingfrointhe spirit of the vention, andI desire it to be understood that my invention is not limited to any specific form or arrangement of parts except in so far as such limitations are specified in the claims.

VVhat-I claim is: v

1. In a headlight, a casing; a reflector p0 sitioned within said casing; a socket movably mounted in said reflector; a strip rigidly attached to said socket and extending axially thereof; means to support the other end of said strip upon said casing; a V-shaped strip supported by the legs thereof upon said casing, one of said legs extending parallel and adjacent to said first strip, and the other of said legs extending at an angle with respect to said first strip, said t shape-d strip having a slotthrough which said first strip adapted to have axial movement; and means to move the second mentioned leg of said V- shaped strip whereby said first mentioned strip is flexed and said socket tilted.

2. In a headlight, a casing; a reflector positioned within said casing; a socket movably mounted in said reflector; a strip rigidly at tached to said socket and extending axially thereof; means to support the end of said strip upon said casing; a second strip co-opcrating with said first strip to permit longitudinal but not vertical movement thereof; a foot on the end of said second strip, and a crown cam adapted to engage said foot'and move said strip longitudinally when said cam is rotated whereby said first strip is flexed and said socket tilted.

i 3. In a headlight, a casing; a reflector positioned within said casing; a socket movably 4. In a headlight, a casing; a reflector posi-. tioned Within said casing; a socket movablymounted in said reflector; a strip rigidly attached to said socket and extending axially thereof; means to support the end of said strip upon said casing; a second strip cooperating with said first strip to permit Iongitudinal but not vertical movement thereof; a foot on the end of said second strip and a crown cam adapted to engage said foot and move said strip longitudinally when said cam is rotated, whereby said first strip is flexed and said socket tilted; and a spring adapted to hold said foot against said cam.

5 In a headlight, a casing; a reflector positioned within said casing; a socket movably mounted in said reflector; a strip rigidly at tached to said socket and extending axially thereof; means to support the end of said strip upon the casing; a second strip cooperating with said first strip to permit longitudinal but not vertical movement thereof; a foot on the end of said second strip and a crown cam adapted .to engage said foot and move said strip longitudinally when said cam is rotated, whereby said first strip is flexed and said socket tilted; a locking strip; and means to tighten said locking strip against said cam to prevent rotation thereof,

6. In a headlight, a casing; a reflector positioned within said casing; a socket movably mounted in said reflector; a strip rigidly attached to said socket extending axially thereof; a nut attached to the end of said strip;

a screw rotatably mounted-in said casing and having threaded engagement with said nut; a spring normally urging said strip toward said reflector; .a second strip co-operating 7 In a headlight, a casing; a reflector positioned within said casing; a socket movably mounted in said reflector; a strip rigidly at tached to said socket extending axially thereof; a nut'attached to the end of said strip;

7 a screw rotatably mounted in said casing and having threaded engagement with said nut;

a spring normally urging said strip toward said reflector; a V-shaped strip mounted upon the casing by the legs thereof, the vertex of vsaid strip having sliding engagement with said first mentioned strip and a cam between the end of one of said legs and the casing and rotatably mounted upon the casing and adapted to cause a tilting action of said V-shaped strip when said cam is rotated, whereby said i first mentioned strip is flexed and said socket tilted. I

8. In a headlight, a casing; a reflector positioned within said casing; a socket movably mounted in said reflector; a strip rigidly attached to said socket and extending axially thereof; means'to support the other end of said strip upon said casing; a second strip mounted upon said casing adjacent saidfirst strip and having a portion extending parallel therewith to a point adjacent said socket and a second portion extending downwardly and rearwardly, said second strip having a 'slot therein adjacent the bend thereof through which said first strip is adapted to have axial movement; a cam rotatably mounted on said casing and adaptedto engage with the other end. of said second strip whereby rotation of said cam will cause movement of one end of said second strip and a consequent flexing of said first strip whereby said socket is tilted 1 vertically in said reflector;

; In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

SAMUEL r. ARBUOKLE.

with said first strip to permit longitudinal Y but not vertical movement of said first strip with respect to said second strip; a foot on the end of said second strip; and a cam rotatably mounted on said casing and adapted to engage said foot to cause longitudinal movement of said second strip. 

